Bill Bailey: Vaudevillean review – a jack of all trades and a master of fun

Actor, comic, musician – Bill Bailey wears many hats. In fact, his latest outing has him sporting a bowler and a cane as he takes the audience on a masterclass in the art of Vaudeville theatre and variety showcases.

Appearing on stage in a velvet-curtained box, surrounded by an assorted arrangement of exotic stringed instruments, it is clear from the start that Bailey is keen to establish a sense of theatrical nostalgia. The vaudevillean aesthetic and focus on eclectic performance provide a fitting framework for an individual whose wide array of talents are not particularly easy to categorise.

The first part of the show does labour slightly on the history of Vaudeville, but it arguably lends some important context to appreciate the concept and the meta nature of the show and its namesake. So, although at times the production can feel like a lesson in language, etymology or French history, each intellectual nugget is self-aware in its delivery. Each comes with a wink and a nudge from Bailey that never patronises the audience.

Bailey is at his most entertaining when he puts down the history books and picks up his various strange and unusual instruments. Whether he is displaying the problematic musical options of his father’s fall alarm on his keyboard or singing a song about a lover with a rather large head on an oud, the talent displayed on stage is genuinely astonishing.

That being said, this modern-day vaudevillean doesn’t rely on his musical prowess alone to keep the audience engaged. Each anecdote, and ditty is masterfully backdropped with video design that not only gives delightful visual moments, but that frequently adds nuance to the song or story it is accompanying, making the next punch line or song lyric hit even harder.

Bailey is nothing if not charismatic. There is an undeniable warmth to his stage presence. His comedic cadence leaves space for the room, its various reactions and even attempts at playful heckles to become part of the show (including a native French speaker criticising Bailey’s pronunciation from the stalls, much to everyone else’s delight). These moments allow the show to feel organic, almost conversational rather than forced or overly scripted. Yet Bailey has a knack for keeping the audience with him, however far off course he might wander.

We all know how the saying goes: a jack of all trades is a master of none. But audiences of Vaudevillean might just disagree. And in a bit of wordplay that I think even the vaudevillean himself might roll his eyes at, it is undeniable that Bailey is a jack of all trades and a master of FUN.